Oakland County's blue shift 'a national warning light for the Republicans,' according to 'Politico'
Forget about Macomb County's "Reagan Democrats" (they're solidly Trump Republicans now, anyway). Oakland County's "Biden Republicans" are at the new forefront of national politics.
That's according to Stanley Greenberg, the pollster who popularized Macomb County as a national bellwether, who told Politico in a lengthy cover story about Oakland County's shift from red to blue that it "represents the dominant trend in the country because it combines the most affluent and college graduates in increasingly diverse suburbs becoming increasingly and emphatically Democratic."
The political magazine does a deep-dive into Oakland County's shift to the left, tracing back to how it became a GOP stronghold following white flight from Detroit, the rise of former County Executive L. Brooks Patterson during the anti-busing backlash of the 1970s, and his culture war against former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young.
Under Patterson, Oakland County prospered, but that would plant the seeds of change, creating "a demographic time bomb" set off by Donald Trump — immigrants who were drawn to the auto industry that Patterson helped flourish, as well as moderate women turned off by the self-proclaimed pussy-grabber.
Read more: https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2021/06/18/oakland-countys-blue-shift-a-national-warning-light-for-the-republicans-according-to-politico-deep-dive